The Vanishing Man

In spite of many obstacles, my brother is getting married in a few short days.  As such, he has been moving his things to the house where he and his fiancé will live.  It feels like my brother has always been around.  He is seven years older than me, and I can almost count on one hand the number of years during my lifetime that we have not lived in the same house.

We weren’t what I would call “close” when we were growing up.  Seven years is a BIG difference when you are a kid.  But as I reached my teens and he, his twenties, we started to get closer to one another.  We joke that we were raised on the same source material, so we have the same sort of sense of humor, and it annoys our dad to no end when we get going.

I think it’s really going to hit hard next week when he’s no longer around all the time.

And in thinking about all this, it strikes me how much our liturgical year and the scriptures assigned to it can speak to us in our day-to-day lives.  Jesus has ascended into heaven.  He left his disciples, but he did not leave them, or us, orphans.  He sends the Holy Spirit to us to be our comforter, advocate, and guide.  Just so, in my family’s current situation, my brother is not abandoning us.  On the contrary, he is giving us a new family member for us to love and who loves us in return.  (Having never had a sister, I am super excited!) 

It will mean changes for all of us, as we adapt to new habits, for the better.  It will be an adjustment to another aspect of our “new normal”.  In that sense, maybe it is helpful that it is happening now, when we are, necessarily, making other adjustments to our lifestyle.  Moving forward will be an adventure, and one that we will hopefully welcome with open arms.

A Case for Ascension Thursday

Author's Note:  Due to certain family circumstances, this is a late blog, but nevertheless something to consider, whether it is after the fact or not.

In most dioceses of the United States, the feast of the Ascension has been transferred to the Sunday before Pentecost.  The reasons for this vary according to whom you ask.  One reason I have heard is that it’s such an important feast that it should be observed by all Catholics, and moving it to Sunday makes it more likely that people will attend.  As Father Erik pointed out in his homily on Thursday of last week, it is a solemnity and a holy day of obligation, and to miss Mass on a holy day of obligation through one’s own fault is a mortal sin.  So, remove that possibility altogether, and move it to Sunday!

 

I don’t know that that’s really a good reason to move the feast.  It takes away a bit of accountability for us, and we can always use more accountability, especially in these days of restrictions and unconventional circumstances.  Father Erik also pointed out that the Ascension is a historical event.  It took place forty days after Jesus’ Resurrection.  Forty is such a significant number in the Bible that it makes sense to preserve that.  Further, if we celebrate Ascension on Thursday, we get a full ten days to prepare for Pentecost, which took place fifty days after the Resurrection.

 

We celebrate Christmas on whatever day it happens to fall.  Yes, this is due to the commercialization of Christmas to a certain extent, but it has a place in our consciousness.  Easter is a more significant feast for Catholics.  Our entire liturgical year is set by the date of Easter.  Surely the feasts of the Easter season should be given the same dignity.  Further, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has not transferred other feasts which are holy days of obligation, such as August 15^th, the Solemnity of the Assumption.  Surely, Jesus’ return to His Father in heaven should be afforded the same courtesy.

 

Holy days of obligation are a chance for us to stop, take stock of our spiritual lives, and make a small sacrifice of an hour of our time to attend Mass.  Our lives might be inconvenienced, but it is worth it to maintain our relationship with God.

Easing Into It

Let’s face it, things will most likely never go completely “back to normal.”  We’re going to have to create a new normal.  As Father Erik mentioned in his homily last week, we have plenty to trouble our hearts right now, but Jesus speaks to us through the scriptures.  He tells us “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Have faith in God.”

We also need to have some common sense and a healthy sense of caution.  Just because we CAN do more things with restrictions easing doesn’t mean we must or we should.  But above all, we must have faith.  For some, going out in public is going to be scary, and that’s okay.  Ease into it.  Don’t try to do too much at once.  Don’t let it become overwhelming.  Take baby steps.  Believe that it will get better.  It will get easier.  It will become more normal.  Taking small steps forward will help to reduce the number of steps we have to take back.

If you are hesitant to come back to church, take that hesitancy to God in prayer.  Let Him help you regain the confidence to join in once more.  These times of isolation and separation have been difficult, even for those of us who prefer alone time to being with big groups.  Ask God to help you return to Him in small ways at first and then each step will get easier.

We look forward to the day when our new normal actually seems normal again.